I need some sort of 3D tracking, and i believe thats somewhat what AI Servo means

No AI servo means that the focus doesnt lock on, it just follows the action, the Nikon equivalent is called AF-Continuous.

"3D tracking" or "Dynamic Area" are Nikon autofocus modes available, they are basically the same thing and mean that if the subject moves in the frame, the camera will automatically select whichever focus point it moves onto. Ive only really ever used canon digital slrs for landscape work and manually focussed, so Im afraid I dont know what the Canon terms for these modes are, but Im sure theres a fellow canon user here to enlighten us...

Noceo wrote:

If you have any suggestions on how to improve my focusing skills, then i would love to hear it

Yeah, practice

Get over to as many american football games as you can and practice up

Canons do have a wide area AF but as said whenever there is more than one point, it may pick one other than what you want depending on the conditions and logic. On lower model cameras, the point density it quite low too so it is harder for them to keep track. If you want best focus accuracy, you do tend to have to stick to one point and track better.

No AI servo means that the focus doesnt lock on, it just follows the action, the Nikon equivalent is called AF-Continuous.

umm nope thats not the case.just pulled out the manuals of my cam and AI servo AF recognizes if the subject begins to move and neighboring AF measuring fields will try to get it in focus. keep in mind that at first it will try to get it focused in the central measuring field.you could also try AI Focus AF.. when the subject doesn't move it will work like the One-Shot AF and when it notices that it begins to move then it automatically turns into the servo mode[/quote]

Not all of them obviously. So the lens adjustment isnt off (not by much at least). But I miss more than I like because of that. My best guess is that the AF isnt fast enough. I just cant find out if its the camera or the lens that is the primary cause of this.

if you ask me, you shot something.. then saw this guy running and wanted him in the shot aswell but the lens couldn't focus so fast- you didn't even wait for the camera to focus and just took a picture that's out of focus.
it's the lens that's too slow.. no wonder though, it's not a dedicated sport lens after all.. but upgrading wouldn't help all that much cause you gotta practice with this af motor more.. i promise you that with time you'll get a lot more in focus.

Hey, if you don't mind, i'd like to post an additional question I have on this subject.

I was shooting with a Canon 50D and also the 55-250mm IS lens

This weekend I went out and took some pictures at a Karate Tournament. I tried shooting with AF Servo as I thought this would follow to subject through the different AF points.
So I started using only the middle AF point, pointed it at my subject's face, and then just kept my trigger pushed half the way down, while i would compose so that not only my target would be in the picture, but also his opponent...

The problem is I don't really think it worked is it because all the fighters were wairing a white outfit and the camera goes from one guy to the next? Or does the AF lose its target after a while?

The problem was I couldn't just keep my target on the middle AF point, as then I wouldn't have his opponent in the picture, but just his legs or something... and I tried choosing a different AF point (the left/right ones) but I didn't like the way it handled that...
What do you guys think I should do in situations like that?

(or is the picture in focus but is it cause of the ISO noise cause it was not ideal light, hard of course to answer this as you can't see the picture, i'll post asap)

I'm going to post it soon, but as I'm at work, I can't access the pictures and post them, and I don't think I'll have time to do it in the next couple of days, but I'm so anxious to see what you guys have to say about the whole AF Servo etc, that I would just post my question here, already, while I wait to start my own topic, incl my pictures.